Baltimore Orioles: Another Trade With The Toronto Blue Jays

The Baltimore Orioles completed another trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, acquiring more infield depth for the minor league system.

The Baltimore Orioles had an off day on Friday, following their 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees on Opening Day in the Bronx.  Despite the off day, the work of the front office under general manager Mike Elias continues.

Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com recently reported that the Baltimore Orioles have announced two transactions: the signing of MiLB free agent Mason Williams and the trade of cash considerations to the Toronto Blue Jays in return for right-handed hitting infielder Yeltsin Gudino.

Nick Stevens, the site expert here at Birds Watcher, previously discussed the Mason Williams signing and now I would like to take a look at the player received for cash considerations.  I would venture to guess that somehow those cash considerations involve International Bonus slot money.

If my guess is correct, this would be the second trade that the Orioles have completed with the Blue Jays involving International Bonus slot money.

Gudino, a native of Maracay, Venezuela (the same birthplace as catcher Daniel Fajardo), signed with the Blue Jays at the age of 16 in July of 2013.  He began his professional career in the Gulf Coast League (Rookie) in 2014 and advanced as high as the Florida State League (A-Adv.) this past season.

In five years with the Blue Jays organization, Gudino compiled a .233/ .310/ .280 slash line with 144 runs scored, 122 RBI, and 11 stolen bases over 356 games.  The long ball is not a part of his skill set as he has hit just three home runs in his career.

By far, his best numbers came at Lansing in the Midwest League (A-Full) where he spent part of the 2018 season.  In 38 games for the Lugnuts, Gudino slashed .321/ .392/ .373 with 27 runs scored, 17 RBI and three stolen bases.  The Orioles have tentatively assigned him to the Frederick Keys of the Carolina League (the equivalent of the Florida State League).

To put things in perspective and to provide a baseline, when Gudino played for Dunedin of the FSL, he hit .238/ .310/ .250 with 17 runs scored, 23 RBI and four stolen bases in 53 games.  His numbers compare favorably to those generated by Frederick Keys infielder Alejandro Juvier in 2018.

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Defensively, Gudino played third base, shortstop, and second base in 2018; he fits the versatility mold that has been preached by manager Brandon Hyde during spring training.  The majority of his experience has come at shortstop (230 games) where he has a .941 fielding percentage over 1,111 chances (66 errors).

I anticipate that Gudino will be the everyday shortstop in Frederick, replacing 2018 SS Chris Clare, who I expect will be promoted to Bowie (AA).  He should provide a solid defensive option in the infield for the Keys.  The question will most certainly be his bat.  Gudino has a career 8.9% walk rate and 14.2% strikeout rate and will have to improve on his extreme groundball rate if he expects to stick (54% last season in High-A ball).

By no means is this an earth-shattering trade; it is one that adds to the talent base in the system.  Elias sees something in this 22-year-old shortstop or else he would not have pulled the trigger on the trade.  Time will tell, but as we have seen with Elias’ moves with the Orioles’ prospects this season, he does nothing without a reason.

Stay tuned to @BirdsWatcherFS as we begin our four-part series into the rosters of each Baltimore Orioles minor league affiliate, beginning with the Norfolk Tides who have released their break camp roster.